Grand Ayatollah Shirazi: Amir al-Momineen title exclusive to Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him

The daily scholarly meeting of Grand Ayatollah Seyyed Sadegh al-Hosseini al-Shirazi was held on Monday, the fourth of Jumadi al-Thani. In this session, like the previous meetings, the Marja answered the questions of the attendees about various jurisprudence issues.

Grand Ayatollah Shirazi discussed the permissibility of using the title “Amir al-Mu’minin” for the Infallible Imams other than Ali bin Abi Talib, peace be upon him, and said: This question has been raised repeatedly. It is necessary to pay attention to two points. The first point is whether the rest of the Ma’sumeen, peace be upon them, are the “Commander of the Faithful”? And the second point is whether it is possible to use the title Amirul Momineen for those honorable Imams?

Citing a narration from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him), the Marja said: It is mentioned in the narration that someone said to Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): “Ya Amir al-Mu’minin”, and in response to the use of the title, the Imam said: Do not use this title for us. The person asks the Imam: Are you not the commander of the faithful? What can apparently be understood from the narration is that the Imam acknowledged that they are [commanders of the faithful], but that the title Amir al-Mu’minin exclusively belonged to the first Imam.

Referring to another narration, he said: A person asked the Imam whether Imam al-Hujjah would be called Amir al-Mu’minin when he reappears? The Imam answers that even Imam al-Hujjah will not be called Amir al-Mu’minin, because this title is exclusive to Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be upon him.